


In the World of Creatures and Family

by SnowPlexus (CollistaForest)



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fluff, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Sleepy bois, This is going to be a fun au, brownie tubbo, golem technoblade, harpy philza, i hurt too much to write angst so, imp tommy, just a lot of family bonding times, mythical creatures AU, siren wilbur, sleepy bois inc - Freeform, there isnt going to be much angst hopefully
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:54:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27420784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CollistaForest/pseuds/SnowPlexus
Summary: There are many creatures in this world, mythical creatures are a common place in every town, every city. Here, Phil starts adopting children and builds up a nice cozy household.
Relationships: sleepy bois inc but its family
Comments: 33
Kudos: 454





	1. Prologue 1: Technoblade

**Author's Note:**

> Phil: 20  
> Techno: 13

The sky grew cloudy, dark, and lifeless as the day slugged on. The absence of people on the streets in the largest city on the continent only sank the cold into the bones of the only being willing to traverse them. The man, the harpy, the only one outside, walked the street, looking for a criminal.

And it honestly shouldn't be this difficult to find them. He should've had this criminal captured and shipped on their way _hours_ ago. Alas…

The one he was chasing appeared to be elusive, and he was the poor bastard sent on the job. If he knew catching one single criminal would take the effort of interrogating everyone within a three mile radius while checking under every rock, he would've stayed home. He would have sent a message to the chieftain of his division saying he was sick or something, and he would've stayed home. Curled up, a book to read, some nice tea to drink.

Phil just wants to go home, and he believes no one would fault him if he just went home this minute and called this case a lost cause. Honestly, there's not a single report of anyone ever seeing the criminal he was supposed to be catching.

He sighed. He doesn't know for how much longer he is willing to search in the growing cold. The leather of his boots are doing hardly a thing to keep the small puddles of water from seeping in and freezing his feet.

He almost called it quits. Phil had unfurled his wings and was so close to calling it quits.

The glass bottles in his bag sounded like chimes as he abruptly stopped his own takeoff. The sound of a scurry bounced off the walls of an alleyway, trash and disposables clattering to the ground, falling behind a moving figure in the rapidly growing darkness. The various lamplighters of the city had deigned to even think of coming around this area, the only light as far as the eye could see now came from the windows lining the streets.

That being said, Phil only got a glimpse of long, matted pink hair on a child's frame, before he gave chase.

The heaps and piles of trash was barely a hazard to someone who lives in the skies. Though, the narrowness of the alley was a bit concerning. Phil could feel the tips of his feathers brush the walls as he gave chase.

Following behind at speeds he barely had to reach before, Phil managed to catch the child in a corner. He touched down, slowly shuffling closer to the small creature.

Phil took a breath in, then "Excuse me?"

The child jumped and turned, the lanky and barely attached limbs of the poor being flailing with every slight movement. Phil tried to take a step forward, arm outstretched to try and reach out to the small thing.

The child booked it.

Phil was worried that the child would smash their head on the wall, but no. The small flashes of pink hair, given light by the windows, seemed to glide up the walls without a single hesitance. 

"Oh, wow." Phil said as he took to the air. As he lifted above the surrounding buildings, he saw the child running across the rooftops like a bat out of Hell.

It wasn't that hard to catch up to the child, nor was it too difficult to catch them when they stumbled off the rooftop.

Though, he'll have to admit, holding one of the child's arms while the rest of the body tumbled into the small trash heap below was quite astonishing. He almost dropped the arm, it was quite a weird thing to hold after all, when he noticed it. 

There was no blood.

There was no bone.

All there was inside was stone, a soft stone that wouldn't take more than a knife to chip away at it.

"Can I… can I have that back please?"

Phil drifted down to the small heap the child landed in. They didn't seem too bothered in losing an arm, especially made out of stone, so Phil could only assume this happened quite often.

"You aren't going to run off again, are you?" The chd shrugged as best they could, and Phil relented. He knelt down holding the arm out as if it was an olive branch.

"My names Phil," The child placed the arm back in its socket. Tiny sparks so something Phil could only assume was of magical nature bonded the arm back to the body, and it clicked.

"You're a golem."

The child gave him a blank, unimpressed stare, and gave a groan that sounded more like a pig's grunt than any noise a child should have made.

"And? If there isn't a reason you chased me through the streets and rooftops, then I'll be going." The child barely passed by him before Phil caught his shoulder, turning to face them in the eyes.

"Im sorry, but what's your name?"

The child rolled their eyes, picking Phil's hand from their shoulder.

"Im Technoblade."

"What a weird name for a child."

"Well, my creator was a manic, so if that gives you anything…"Technoblade's voice was rough for a golem, but then again, most golems aren't permitted to speak by their creators, so Phil hasn't a thing to compare.

Kneeling to the ground, Phil let his wings grace the grime infested rock of the alley floor, and looked up into the bored eyes of the child, Technoblade, in front of him.

"Say," Phil spoke, and his eyes wandered to the carved seal in the smooth stone of Technoblade's forehead. "Where have you to go?"

Another huff from the child, but he hadn't fled yet, so this was as close as a victory Phil was going to get.

"Nowhere, I guess." 

That hurt to hear.

Slowly Phil rose a hand, brushing his fingers against the oddly cold skin of the golem. Some feeling rose in his chest and buried itself in his heart, something of a protective nature washed over his mind and tore at his skull. He hated to see the dirt coating the golem's skin, the holes in the patchy clothes, the cobwebs forming within the loose joints.

Phil held his hand out.

"Come with me, and let's get you fitted into some proper clothes."

Technoblade hesitated for more than a moment, and every one of Phil's muscles just _burned_ , trying to get him out of the alley with a small golem, trying to get him back on his main goal- _which was what again? Risking his life to catch a criminal whose been beating up people without reason? He doesn't want to risk that. Not for himself, and not for the child he found just running through the streets._

When Technoblade takes his hand in turn, it takes every single bit of his willpower to not wrap his wings around the both of them and run to his home.

It wouldn't be for a few months before he'd realized the attacks on the streets have stopped, and the Lamplighters go on their merry way to their job as the sun sets each night.

* * *

"So if I can ask, but what happened to the person who created you?"

Technoblade, Techno for short, stopped his nice breakfast of currently on-fire potatoes to stare at his new caretaker.

"I think he's dead, but I haven't seen him in a few months, so I'm not… I'm not really sure."

"Oh. That's-" Phil knocked a few of the ashes from the heating plate into the bin. "That's depressing."

The room was silent for a good minute or so. Phil made himself a plate of whatever he could scavenge from the cupboards. He turned back to the golem, only to watch as the clump of mashed potatoes fell back onto his plate.

"Umm, Techno, I- I thought Golems didn't need to eat." Smooth Phil, smooth.

Techno paused, staring at the burned potato in his hand. He started to look confused, and looked back down to his plate, where the mass of the potatoes hadn't changed.

"I guess not, but it is relaxing to just chew things like everyone else does."

"Well," Phil had to stop himself from chuckling. "You don't have a throat, Techno."

The golem looked at him, stared at him for a good solid ten seconds before trying to shove his hand in his mouth.

Phil had to brace himself against the wooden counter so he would fall over laughing.

Techno smiled, "I guess you're right."

And Phil went down in another bout of laughter, spilling his plate everywhere as he fell.

* * *

“Really Phil, you don’t have to do this.”

“I don’t, you’re right, but I really want to.” Phil smiled, messing up the absolute rat nest of pink hair that Techno had on his head. His grumbles as his stoney fingers tried to wade through the knots and smooth it down were adorable in Phil’s opinion.

The harpy stretched his wings, curling one around his new ward to shuffle him into the little market off of the main road. The inside of the store was cooler than the sun-beaten streets of the late morning. He nodded to the dual-coloured Astomi running the coin desk and brought Techno to the small clothes rack on the side of the store. There wasn’t much to chose from, especially considering the Golems current height-

And that made him pause, staring at the child who was sifting through the price markers. Do Golems grow? Surely they don’t, they’re beings made of earthly materials, of _course_ they don’t grow, right?

Techno handed him a cheap white tunic and fairly worn pair of black trousers.

“C’mon, this wouldn’t make a dent in my coins, Techno. You should get some more.”

The child hesitated on that, looking back to the rack, then back to Phil. Slowly, while checking the small prices in red ink, he handed a few more bits of clothing onto the small pile Phil had formed in his arms.

The Astomi chuckled as Phil brought Techno over to the coin desk near the door.

“Welcome back, find everything you needed alright, Philza?”

“Yes, Ranboo, this is everything we’re getting from you. Nothing more.” Phil took the coin pouch from his waist.

“Ah, are you sure I can pawn anything off on you this time? I did just get a good few things in recently.” Ranboo stopped counting the prices tags, and instead moved to the small door behind the counter, bringing out a box to set down on his chair, adjusting the mask on his face.

“Ranboo, I assure you-” 

Ranboo brought out a mask from the box, a white circular disk with nothing more than two dots and a line across the bottom. Before either of them could take a better look at the thing though, Ranboo tossed it back into the box, claiming “Wrong one.”

“Here,” Ranboo pulled out another mask, however this one didn’t cover the entire face. It was dull pink in color, had a snout, and two white tusks coming from the bottom of it. Phil almost asked Ranboo to put it away, that he only came here for the clothes, before Techno asked to look at the mask a little more.

The Golem put the mask on, and it slumped against his nose. Phil had to hold in a laugh as Techno tried to fix the mask against his face.

The child looked up to Phil and smiled. Phil couldn’t say no.

“Alright, add the mask to the total.”

Ranboo laughed,

“Alright, and your new total is 214 silver pieces, or just 22 gold.”

Phil balked.

* * *

Phil was wrong, definitely wrong.

Golems can grow, apparently.


	2. Prologue 2: Wilbur Soot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phil: 26  
> Techno: 19  
> Wilbur: 17

"You really don't have all day, Wil." David knocked on the other side of the thin door. "I know you're nervous, but you need to get out here already."

"I'm not nervous, David! I'm… I'm just getting ready."

"Just getting ready? That's what you told Charlie when he came to check up on you twenty-"

The door flung open, and Wilbur Soot, with a frantic look in his eyes, stared down at his younger brother. And David got a good look at him.

Wilbur looked tired, stressed, and the Siren's gills were visibly pulsing erratically, almost as if he was having trouble breathing. David took one of the pointed claws into his own hands.

"Wil, I know this is stressing you out, but you need to calm down a little."

"Calm down?" Wil hissed, and ripped his hands away to start frantically waving them around, stirring up the ocean water. "You want me to calm down on the lfucking Coronation day-  _ my  _ Coronation day? I think a little stress is acceptable here, David!"

"Wil," David placed both of his webbed hands onto Wilbur's shoulders, pushing him down into the ashen grey coral chair in the corner of the room, large enough for a crown prince to sit and writhe in. 

"What are you so nervous about? Its just a pop in, you do the ceremony for about ten minutes, and you sit down for a good two hours, and then you get to join the party!"

"Its the fact that they all believe i could be a King, David,  _ Their King. _ I was never supposed to get this far, not as a third prince, and definitely not as a Siren. David- David they all  _ hate  _ Sirens, I-" Wilbur dug his knife-like fingers into his hair, pulling the strands and scraping his skull.

"Hey hey, hey… Wilbur." He pulled Wilbur into his arms. Carefully avoiding the sensitive fins on the side of his face, almost hidden by the utter mess of curls which floated around in the water.

"I think I get it." To which Wilbur replied with a small cry.

"After Dan fucked off to who-knows where, and Matt returned to his studies in the Down Below, you're the next Queen-born Prince in line for the throne… Have you ever prepared for this?" 

To which, Wilbur shook his head.

"I've always-" a sniffle. "There was always Matt and Dan in front of me in the line of succession. When dad died, it was all supposed to go to Matt, and that would be that. But he- he became a scholar, he craved knowledge more than power and almost got booted out of the family for that." A small chuckle rose from the both of the Soot brothers, one more hoarse than the other.

"It was all supposed to go to Matt. I never had to worry about any of the  _ ruling _ stuff." Wilbur huffed. "But now I have to worry about it, and its fucking stressing me out before its even begun."

"Hey, don't worry too much about it. I'm sure someone will help you through all of this, it can't be too hard, honestly."

Wilbur leaned into the cold coral chair, flicking his longer-than-average tail to shoo David away.

"You're right, I just-" He took a breath in, and tucked his tail close to his body, smoothing down the grey scales. "I just need a few moments to prepare."

David messed up Wilbur's hair further with a grin plastered on his face.

"You need to get this rats nest in check. Anyway, the guards will be here in just a few moments to escort you down to Center Hall to begin the ceremony, you only need to have the staff before then."

"Thanks, David. For everything." Closing the door behind his brother, Wilbur took in gulps of water, trying to calm down the beating of his heart against his ribs. He reached for his glasses, the circular ones that assist him in reading, and rested them against his nose. He hoped the rims would mask the bags under his eyes. He swam over to the oversized mirror that reflected half the bedroom and started fixing the imperfections in his scales. Then came the robe, a massive thing that looked more like a cape for its own good. A sturdy blue lined in gold that shined against the light. He fastened the thing against his collar, giving a few spins to watch as it flared out against the water.

Then, he was holding a small tub of hair gel, fighting to get the left side of his hair to press against his skull.

He looked good.

He gave his reflection a smile.

His eyes caught the glimmer in a corner, the King's Staff laid heavy against the wall where he tucked it a week prior in hopes to avoid it. Wilbur sighed, smoothing the curls which fluffed up again, and held the staff in his arms.

Its said to have magical properties, the dull gemstone in the center. Supposed to amplify the output of spells cast by the King who held it, after spending hours to attune to the thing, of course.

However, the attunement process was botched a few millennia back after the instructions were destroyed, and it hasn't been able to be used properly since.

They eventually sharpened the end of it, so it became stabby, so it wasn't entirely useless.

The entire thing was heavy as all hell, though he was able to figure out it was hollow on the inside after accidentally setting it outside the case and the tail end floated up to the ceiling.

Wilbur held the King's Staff in his left, while readjusting the long blue robe on his shoulders. It was funny, in the framed painting in the halls of the kings all around the castle, the cape always waved a good foot or so under their tails. It barely reached the end of Wil's, and that was even when he straightened himself out. Oh well, he'll ask the tailor about it later.

"Prince William? We're here to escort you to the Center Hall when you're ready."

Wilbur snorted, and pushed open the door.

"Come on Mjopa, I've told you to call me Wilbur."

A chuckle from the other guard, Jambers it looks like, while Mjopa only gave off a small smile.

"Right, of course, Prince William."

"Of course-"

"Whenever you're ready." Jambers said.

Wilbur took a second just to fix his hair, and nodded to the two.

And off they went.

* * *

"Why are we doing this."

"Shh, Techno."

"Phil, there's no one here." And that gave Phil pause. No one? Sure the clouds were a bit grey, but he could tell there would be no rain until tomorrow at the  _ earliest _ . Still, the docks being completely empty was a bit jarring, plus the emptiness of the waters made him feel even more on edge… even so-

"Just help me get the boat into the water so we can bring it back before anyone notices it's missing." Phil said, trying to use his wings as a counterbalance, throwing his weight as he pulled on the boat. Technoblade stood a few feet away, shuffling his feet and readjusting the mask on his face every two seconds.

"I still don't get a good feeling from this. Honestly Phil, we should do this later." After no response from Phil, Techno huffed. "You still haven't told me why we're doing this."

The Harpy dropped the boat, only getting it a good inch or two closer to the water. He stalked over and held onto Techno's shoulders, pulling him in as of to tell him a secret.

"I'm hungry."

"Then go to the market."

"No- Tech, Techno, the market's completely out of fish. I've looked, scoured even! There are nothing but fishbones there! Not a fin not- not a cod head- there's nothing there to eat!"

"Phil," Techno sighed. In the last six years he'd known the man attempting to raise him, he'd rarely see this frantic behavior from him. "There's more to eat than just fish."

Settling back on his heels, Phil sighed.

"That might be true, but I still am going to try and get some from the ocean." The Harpy ran back to the boat, lugging the thing with all his strength, when it suddenly got a whole lot easier for him.

"If you can't beat 'em." Techno, with the strength of a Golem designed for combat, almost lifted the small dinghy off the dock. He didn't exert much of his energy as he threw it into the ocean.

Phil visibly brightened, his smile contagious. He fluttered his wings, quickly taking to the sky with Techno holding onto his arms in turn. He slowly dropped the both of them into the boat, grabbed a spear and an oar, and started rowing.

* * *

The curtain swayed with the currents, and with glimpses through the parting, he saw the several hundred Merkind drifting in the sea, clattering to themselves as they waited for him to enter. And he was scared, Wilbur Soot would deign to say he was  _ terrified  _ of leaving the area behind the blue curtain. He tapped his claws against the staff. He breathed, his gills flared. The chattering on the other side of the curtain filled the fins on the side of his head with nonsense and barely audible words. 

Something brushed against his hip and Wilbur almost jumped out of his skin.

A small fish drew up to his face, and he almost melted.

"Milo!" The small cod gave a few bubbly chirps, making itself snug against the correct of his neck.

"How are you doing? Been keeping well?" Another small chirp, and Wilbur almost wanted to  _ cry _ he missed his little fish friend. Having Milo here… it almost gave him a sense of calm, a warmth throughout his head and heart.

He felt…  _ ready  _ with Milo by his side.

"Here," He lifted up the robe, and Milo snuggled in by his hip. "They can't take you away from me, my friend."

The curtains opened, and he stepped out into the Center Hall.

There were more people scattered all around the hall than he's ever seen before. The festivities and balls the Royals hosted never had this many attendees. He tightened his grip on the staff as two guards escorted him to the center, a tall, marble podium with a book that towered over everyone else in the hall.

Everyone could see him.

Everyone could see the features that made him a Siren. 

Everyone still cheered for him anyways.

Wilbur raised his hand, something he saw his father do so many times before, and the crowd silenced. He adjusted his glasses, and then he read from the book.

And then the sea went quiet.

And then the waters went dark, the screams came from all around, blood filled the water and everyone tried to escape in a frenzie. 

And then the beasts came.

And Wilbur fled.

* * *

"And you see, the fish around these waters are particularly fearful, they scurry at the slightest sounds-"

"Phil-"

"You would need to be quick, a swift strike would-"

"Hey, Phil-"

" _ What,  _ Techno."

"Thats doesn't look too good." Techno pointed to the waters.

"What do you-" leaning over the edge, Phil watched the waters darken, dead fish rise to the surface. "What is…"

Among the waters, dead creatures floated to the surface. Phil covered Techno's eyes.

Then, one living being rose to the surface, not too far from the boat. Wet, curly hair. A ruined and bloody cloak lined in gold. They were crying.

"H-Hello?" Phil tried,

The curly haired being in the water turned, and the half-hidden sun glinted off their glasses. They hiccuped.

"Hi..?"

"What's… happening?" Techno peeled Phil's hands from his face, and almost two seconds later, recovered his eyes. "I dont like this."

"I don't either," Phil ran his fingers through the pink hair on the Golem's head.

"Excuse me, Mr person in the ocean, what-" Phil had to stop himself from choking, the fish were starting to rot the air. "What's going on?"

"A lot of things happened. All at once really, far too quickly to remember properly. But, my people are scattered or dead now, my kingdom is in shambles, and I can’t do anything to  _ fix it-" _

"Hey,  _ hey,  _ everything is going to be alright- uhh, maybe not yet, not now, but eventually. Someday it'll all come back, and it'll all probably be better than before." Phil could reach out to the man in the water, barely touching his shoulder.

"But until then," he continued. "Do you need a place to stay?"

The man in the water smiled, though faint as it was, his eyes were full of grief. Phil thinks he can see blood clinging to his cape.

"How big's your bathtub?"

"Oh its pretty large." Techno said.

Phil spread his wings, ready to grab the man and bring him on the boat, but was stopped.

"I'm sorry, but do you have any sort of containment device on you?"

Techno looked around. Phil emptied the bucket of the one fish they had caught and handed it to the man in the water.

Accepting the bucket, he submerged it into the water, coaxing something in, and handed the entire thing back to Phil.

"His name's Milo, and he does get a little rowdy in confined spaces, so don't mind his thrashing."

Phil handed the bucket over to Techno, who dipped his fingers in to play with the tiny cod fish. And Phil, carefully, grabbed the man with his arms, bat his big to get a few more feet of height, and dropped himself and his guest into the boat.

"I'm sorry," Phil grabbed the oars and tried hard not to stare at the fins and tail of his guest. "I never got your name."

"Oh, my apologies. I'm Wilbur Soot, and technically speaking, the current King of the sea."

Needless to say, Phil and Techno were a little shocked.


	3. Prologue 3: Tommy Innit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phil: 28  
> Techno: 21  
> Wilbur: 19  
> Tommy: 16

There was nothing around him, nothing but the darkness of the void and the heat of the Hells above. The Nothing was to be expected, of course. Being banished to the deepest pits of Hell for the heinous crime of Having An Opinion was common around these parts. If he spread his tiny, leathery wings and flew around for a bit, he's sure he could find someone else around these parts who was banished for the same thing.

It was common, average. There was nothing special about him- about it.

There was silence. And endless silence that went on for longer than he could take.

Tommy scratched at his ears again. He hummed to himself. Bat his wings. Shuffled his clothes. Any sound drowned out the endless nothingness, void of substance or sound, completely empty.

And here is where he will stay.

Well, that is, until his mum let's him out.

"Have you decided to behave yourself now?" Her voice rang from the rings above.

"Yeah," He lied.

"Alright, you can come back up, but be quick." A red light shown through the top, a beacon in The Nothing. 

Tommy fluttered his wings, getting his feet off of the ground and flying towards the burning light. Most creatures of Hell couldn't even do that! Most Demons wouldn't be able to escape The Nothing even if the door was open to them solely because they can't reach it. Its funny. If he saw another creature down there, he would laugh at them.

Tommy stood next to his mother. She closed the doorway to The Nothing.

"Now, Tommy." She started, cradling his face with a hand. "Your father just wants a few words with you, then you can go along and mess with the creatins above."

He grinned.

"Alright mum! Love you!"

"Love you too, dear."

He bounced, using his small array of abilities to teleport to the fortress he calls home. Dark, maroon walls lit by flame held no souls within the halls. He turned, and there was no one at the gates. He went in deeper, checking the dining hall, the extensive kitchen, the halls full of important documents and books. So, he checked the last public based room in the fortress aside from the basements. The Study. There was always someone in the study. Tommy doesn't think he's ever seen the study empty before in his Hell borne life.

And its not going to be now, either.

His father sat on the other side of the desk, tipping his reading glasses against his slit pupils. He looked up upon the sound of the massive door being thrown open by a reckless child.

"Ah, Tommy, just the son I wanted to see." He says, standing from the desk.

"You have other sons?"

"None you need to know about, anyway," The older man took one of the Manila folders from his desk and started rifling through it. "We got a new request from our friend Jebediah. It seems he wants us to torment a Merperson- sorry no, a Siren from above. Quite rare, they are. Says he's currently third in line to become King, though this file is a year or so old so who knows what he’s up to now.”

“And what does he want me to do?”

His father closed the file, staring down at him. “In his words exactly? ‘Annoy the fucker or some shit, I need to know if he’s still breathing fish piss or not.’”

“So I need to… annoy a Siren?”

“Yes. It shouldn’t be too hard, I heard he has quite the temperament for small shouty people.”

“No, I- I mean, isn’t that dangerous?” Tommy brushed his hands through his hair, bumping into his horns. “Aren’t Sirens supposed to be, like, one of the deadliest creatures above? Like, with their mind control and all?”

His father laughed, and uncontrollable, gaudy laugh, and gripped Tommy’s shoulder. It was almost painful.

“Son, there is nothing more dangerous than a creature from Hell. And I’m sure Siren magics don’t work on us.” His father put the folder back on the table, freed his shoulder, and wiped his hands off. “Do you think you’re ready for this, son?”

“Uhh-”

“Fantastic! I’m going to send you right outside their gates. Remember, hold your breath!”

“Wait, dad, I can’t-”

"And off you go!" Before he could get another word in, his father snapped his fingers, and water flooded his, frankly useless, lungs. Being Hellborne, he really never has the use of lungs, or nostrils.

And when he opened his eyes, when he caught the scent flooding the waters, he wanted to dip out immediately.

Water-bloated fish carcasses slowly drifted to the ocean floor, falling in the rain of picked-clean bones. The, frankly disgusting, smell of rot and iron filled his nose. Some of the tails, larger than himself in colors he'd never seen in Hell before, floated up to the surface past him. An eyeball brushed against his leg.

Tommy swam to the surface, pretending he didn't see the ruins of the flooded kingdom, and hovered above the surface. The smell only became worse as the water slowly evaporated from his clothes.

His ears popped, and a manilla folder hit him on the head. He barely caught it before the files hit the murky waters. On the front cover, there was a Post-It note in red ink saying "Updated!!!" in big letters. Tommy snorted. Inside, there was a second, smaller picture of Wilbur Soot, with a crown and a soft smile. Skimming through, he found just what he was looking for.

An address.

Within a second, he arrived at his new destination.

Man, he loved magic.

He appeared outside of a cottage, something that would have probably appeared in a fairy tale centered in the woods with a bloated cast list.

"Hmmm," He teleported right through the locked door, hovering slightly over the wooden flooring.

"The file said he was living here." He murmured. "Which is weird. Because he is a mermaid, and not supposed to be above water."

Tommy opened the first door he saw, which led to a kitchen, took a cookie from a glass jar, and continued on through the house.

It didn't take him long to be drawn to a dark oak door with an ornate iron handle. He could just barely hear a slow murmuring coming from the other side. Without any held caution, Tommy cracked the door open and peaked through.

His eyes were immediately barraged by the intense light coming from the ceiling. He would later realize that there weren't any sources of light in the room, and that was the sun.

Inside, most of the floor was replaced with a thick glass over a pool of water that most likely went down further than he could see. There was an opening near the back wall, and the mer he was looking for had flung half of his body onto the glass while his tail swayed in the water. 

He could hear it louder now. The words, indiscernible, but flowed like a soft melody in the air. Tommy didn't think too much about it, or anything really. The only thing he could process was the fact he wanted to be closer to the music. He wanted to know the words, he wanted to feel the chills running up his spine again and again. 

He didn't know when he took a step into the room, but the piercing stare of Wilbur Soot definitely brought him back to the moment.

"Uhh," Tommy gave a little wave. "Hi."

"Who are you?" Wilbur asked, using his forearms to raise himself above the glass.

"The name's Tommy, and, uhh," He panicked, just a little bit. "Schlatt says hi?"

Wilbur's face dropped in an instant.

"Oh, so he thinks he's so important now that he can't even say hello to his old friends himself?" He scoffed, and Tommy became infinitely more uncomfortable standing on the glass.

"Seriously! The nerve of that asshole! Next time he wants to start a social interaction that mostly contains politics and shifty jokes, he can come up here himself instead of sending a teenager to do it for him!"

"Hey! I'm not a teenager! I am a big man! I am absolutely massive, bitch!"

"You're so young you're practically a toddler with a task!"

"I'm not a toddler!" Tommy’s feet left the ground, as did the pitch of his voice, which made Wilbur stop for a second. The mer's face screwed up as he barely held in laughter. Wilbur put one sharply clawed hand to his mouth, rolled his other into a fist, and started banging on the glass as his body shook.

"WhAt!"

Wilbur let out a full bodied laugh, falling backwards into the water. The splash soaked Tommy, who stared into the water.

After a few seconds of a storm of air bubbles popped on the surface of the water, Wil's head peaked only slightly off the water, staring at Tommy with smiling eyes.

"What."

"I can see your braces, child."

"YOU ASSHOLE!"

Wilbur fell back into the water as the door flung open with a dance of feathers. A man in a flowery shirt, with a string of flowers against his neck, square glasses with large, black lenses, and a drink in an oddly shaped glass threw himself through the door.

"WIL! YOU'RE NOT GONNA FUCKING BELIEVE THIS-" 

"Hi Phil," Wilbur leaned over the glass floor.

"TECHNO AND I WENT TO THE FESTIVAL AND WE STOLE SO MANY COINS!"

"That's amazing, Phil."

"Wait, hey, you're usually more excited than this, whats up?" Phil looked like if you told a child's entertainer was asked if they could be funnier by a child a quarter his age.

"We have a guest, Phil."

It took a few seconds for Phil to actually see him, but when he did, his face brightened considerably. 

"Oh hi there! We're having a stir fry for dinner." Phil took another look at Tommy, drawing closer, staring into his eyes.

And then Phil pinched his cheek.

"Hey-"

"I'll set another spot, it'll be done in ten." Phil walked away, sipping his drink, which was probably alcoholic.

Tommy stared at where he used to be for longer than a moment, turned to look at Wilbur, then back to the doorway, then back to Wilbur.

"Is he always like that?"

"Like what?" Wilbur laughed, "Like a dad?"

Tommy stopped for a second. "Yeah, like a dad."

"Well, thats how I got here, so I guess so!"

Tommy felt himself smile. He also felt the file in his hands.

It didn't take too long for the papers to burn.

"So, how long did he say until dinner?"

Wilbur smiled. "You're not gonna leave, are you?"

"No, I don't think I am."


	4. Prologue 4: Tubbo

Tubbo likes this house. Its cozy, secluded, and its in the middle of a forest, overflowing with small and tall mythical creatures alike. Tubbo cleans the house, he waters the overgrown garden out back, he pets the animals. He even trims the grass from time to time when he thinks it to be too tall.

Some places are hard to get to, like the high corners full of cobwebs, because he is very short, and the people who built the house were very much not short. The out-of-reach areas on the ceiling would grow and fester with disgusting mold and wide spread webs until he mustered up the strength to bring the latter down from the attic and give the entire house a deep cleaning.

It was relaxing. It helped him forget how very lonely he was, all alone in a random house in the middle of the woods no one had walked near in years. The repetitiveness of the action helped him clear his mind of any thoughts and reasonable thinking.

It usually resulted in him ending up in a “Tubbo Moment”, he’d like to call it. He would do something weird, stupid, or something only he would ever find remotely funny, and then he would be glad he was all alone again. And then he would remember there was no one around again.

And, so the cycle continues.

Then, the day finally comes.

Someone knocks on the front door, quite loudly, and then tries to force the door open after a few moments of silence. The door swung open, crashing against the door and probably leaving a hole in the wall for Tubbo to fix later. The man who forced the door open looked a slight bit regretful while pulling the handle out of the wall, which Tubbo hoped it meant he was a good person.

The teenager who sat in the doorway still caught his attention. He looked to be made of rock, with an ominous mask made of bone where his face should be. If Tubbo was the type of creature to get scared easily, he would be. But he isn't, so he's not. He's not scared of the two people who have barged into the house,  _ he's  _ supposed to be protecting, without any prior invite. He's miffed, not terrified, he promises.

If he goes back up to hide in the attic without introducing himself, well, that's his own problem thank you very much.

After a long while, the two don't leave. Well, they do, but they don't leave for longer than a couple of hours or so. And by the time they do get back, Tubbo has already cleaned up a few of the more subtle messes around the house.

Honestly, a man with wings can't be bothered to remember to do the dusting around the house? Absurd.

He did learn their names though! The man who was pretending he knew how to be an adult was Phil; and the rock teenager who was a high-key anarchist was Techno!

Phil used to be in the agency created to capture rouge or dangerous abnormal creatures. He left, however, when he found Techno, and had to move out of the apartment he had. Tubbo heard Phil say it was because of the space, but the nearly empty coin pouch left on the table said otherwise.

The other one, Techno, looked like he had an angry pig face glued to his. And he was a golem! You don't see those much nowadays, especially after the times when humans would create thousands of them, each more hostile and mindless than the last, to fight in world ending wars for them. But the guy who was mashing potatoes at the counter he could barely look over looked as of he actually had a soul in him. Which was amazing! Odd in these times, but amazing!

When they first arrived in the house, Techno was clingy. Tubbo rarely saw him more than five feet away from the harpy on a good day. He never got wet, but the day Tubbo watched as he ran inside from a sudden rainstorm, he could see the threads of his soul which tied his body together, and he could watch as they wavered from the water, the rocks he was made of being just a tad bit more difficult to control.

Phil had him under a pile of towels in front of the fireplace for hours. Tubbo could remember him reading a book.

Just a few years after that, the two who took residence in the house in the middle of the forest started leaving for longer periods of time. Sometimes, they would come home with food, and others, they would arrive and set down many different colors of coin pouches at the table and count up the coins while grinning.

During the night, while the two were asleep, Tubbo cleans around the house. Every spare coin he found under the rugs, in the couch, or snug within a loose floorboard, he snuck back into the pouches strewn across the table.

The two always looked so happy to see the extra money at the end of every week. Phil would come home with a gift for Techno, and he would say something along the lines of "You shouldn't have, Phil." And they would both smile and laugh. Phil would wrap his arms around his adopted son and Techno would bury his face underneath the cloak.

Just once, Tubbo wondered what Phil's hugs were like, before removing another spider web from the corner of the ceiling.

* * *

Tubbo thanked the heavens above the day Wilbur showed up after the sun had set. He had just barely managed to remember to clean the single, forgettable room at the end of the hall with the largest bath in the house. So large, Tubbo hardly declared it a bath at all. To him, it was an in-ground pool, with half the water covered by a sheet of glass which was always cool.

After the glass had looked as shiny as the day it was installed, he stored the rag in the cupboard underneath the sink. As the wooden door shut with a silent " _ thud _ ", he could hear bustling at the door. Tubbo ran for the stairs the other two residents never thought about going up, and as the door swung open, he tripped himself on the pant leg of his slightly-too-large overalls. But, with all the trouble they were having at the door, they never had the chance to see Tubbo dip behind the wall at the top of the stairs.

Instead Tubbo watched as Phil walked in first, backwards, holding something incredibly long in his arms. Techno came in a few seconds after, holding two barely-used fishing rods and a bucket half full of water with a single living fish inside.

Phil's back was to him, but he could see the large, ashen tail, scraping the ground, leaving a trail of blood on the hardwood floor. The two had a short, hushed conversation, ending with Techno setting the fish on the counter and throwing more than a few towels onto the couch, and Phil lying the something in his arms on top of it all and heading straight to the bathroom. Finally, Tubbo got a good look at the mer; pale as hell and covered in blood and a tattered cape. Techno sat on the floor by the mers head, slowly and carefully brushing the hair from its face.

Phil returned shortly after, armed with a corked glass of water, a few plasters, and a long cotton roll of bandages. He handed a few of the plasters and the bottle to Techno and the two started working on cleaning up the mer.

Tubbo finally went back up the rest of the stairs once the mer started hissing in pain.

It was hard for him to get a good rest that night, as he pretended not to be listening to the group underneath his floorboards. The sun was set to rise as he heard Phil lug the mer down the hall and into the room with the pool.

That night, he slept as the sun rose.

* * *

In the three years that had passed, Tubbo had learned that his name is Wilbur, the fish that was brought in was named Milo, and that was it.

He didn't go anywhere near the door, not even when Techno and Phil left to do their daily scamming and thievery. It was an unreasonable and baseless fear, he knew, but he still wasn't going to do it.

Besides, there were more pressing matters to attend to. Like the blood stains that he's still trying to get out of the wood, or the demon who walked into the house uninvited. 

Tubbo hid behind the couch, stuffing the rag into the pouch in his overalls as the demon with very apparent horns opened the door to the kitchen and walked out with one of Phil's specially made cookies between his teeth.

The demon frowned, and the last bit of the cookie fell to the floor. Tubbo took a second to scowl at the crumbs before he noticed the demon floating towards Wilbur's door. Which was odd, because he didn't even turn to look anywhere else in the house. His eyes were focused on the door, as if the room itself were magnetized. Tubbo couldn't imagine why; that room had been silent before and after the mer's arrival.

Not too long after the door shut behind the demon, Tubbo stuck the rag back under the sink, just as the yelling started from the room down the hall. He ran back up the stairs, to the place no one knew he existed. Just barely making it before Phil bursts in through the front door with Techno by his side, pockets overflowing with stolen goods and coin.

* * *

Not even a week had passed after the demon, the imp, Tommy, had joined the household. Tubbo couldn't tell if it was the coming warm months or the new arrival that had made the house slightly warmer.

In the cloudy morning, Phil and Techno had taken Tommy out to the town to purchase new, less formal, clothes for Tommy to be comfortable in. Meaning, Tubbo would be alone in the house, not including Wilbur who couldn't come out of his room if he wanted to, and he would be able to fix the house up to his heart's content. The only slight issue with his marvelous day of doing nothing but menial tasks, was the fact the bottle of his cleaning soap was empty.

And he would not dare clean without the tiny bubbles!! They are an integral part of the whole cleaning process! Specifically for his own enjoyment.

He closed the wooden cupboard and threw the empty bottle away, hiding it under a wadded up ball of sun-tanned paper. Quietly, he snuck back up the stairs, throwing on one of the coats in his clothes pile that still fit. It was snug and it wouldn't button right, but its the only one with sleeves that weren't so extremely tight.

Tubbo took the few coins he'd managed to siphon from over the years, leaving a manageable total of 2 silver and around 39 copper pieces.

Quietly, and relocking the door behind himself, he slipped into the woods, steadily walking down the beaten path to the city. The sun hid behind the thickening grey clouds, and Tubbo faced away from the wind. The bustling from the outer ring of the city made his heart race as the buildings and houses started entering his vision. He blended in well with most of the children bustling about, even if he was slightly taller than most of them.

Walking through a grassy park, he stepped into the little shopping district with only a few shops lined with market stalls selling garden grown produce.

Tubbo stepped into the first shop he saw and almost immediately turned around when he heard Phil and Tommy laughing from the other side of the shop. He had to remind himself they had no idea who he was, and didn't know he was living in the attic and cleaning up most of the messes they never thought to over the past years. Instead he turns to the man at the counter, who is unnecessarily tall with purple particles emanating from his skin.

Stepping up to the counter, Tubbo asked;

"Excuse me, but would you happen to have liquid soap?"

"Hmm," one of the man's gloves tapped the wooden counter as he was thinking. "Think I stocked it a week or two ago, or maybe Niki did…? I don't really know."

Tubbo was about to step away from the counter, thank him for his time and leave, when the man shouted,

"Hey Phil! You see any cleaning juice back there?"

Tubbo whiped his head to look over at Phil, who knocked his way through some shelves and responded with a "Nope."

"Well, Phil's word is law. Sorry, but I dont have any."

"That's alright, I think I'll try someplace else. Thank you though."

Tubbo left, quickly, and didn't realize how warm the store was until he was back outside, and the coat still didn't feel like it was good enough.

He went into another store with the same luck, and another. The last market, however, did have the exact cleaning soap he was looking for, and he was smiling as he walked the bottle all the way to the counter up front. And then the man told him he didn't have enough coin to pay for it, and he oh so desperately wanted to smash the bottle against the floor, or in the man's face.

Instead, he put it back on the shelf, and pretended not to notice how his throat felt as if it was closing up and how his eyes felt hotter than they were supposed to.

All he wanted was the soap.

Apparently, it was too much to ask for.

He shoved his hands into the pockets of the coat. He messed with the coins in his right hand pocket, threading the metals through his fingers as he walked back home empty-handed. The rocks on the path were kicked, and the weeds growing through the gravel were stomped on.

As the first drops of rain hit his hair, Tubbo could feel his mood go from bad to  _ sour  _ in less than an instant.

The rain grew heavy quick, seeping through his coat and his clothes, each drop as cold as ice as it froze his skin.

He stomped on the rocks, running carelessly back home so he could sit in front of the fireplace for a few hours, and then sit upstairs alone forever until he managed to gather more coin to buy the soap.

Tubbo slipped on a patch of the rocks, tumbling down the path and half falling into a wooden crate. He stared at the sky, rain falling into his eyes as he glared daggers at the sky.

He didn't want to move anymore. All the energy was seeped out of his body the moment he stopped moving. So he just looked, watching the grey clouds pass by as they shot down icy needles down from the heavens. Everything was cold when it was so warm this morning. It was so warm when he was in the house, when  _ everyone _ was in the house together. 

He missed Phil.. and Techno.. and Tommy just a little bit. He regrets, just a little, not ever going to meet Wilbur, locked alone in the room when he used to have a whole ocean to move around in.

He regrets a few things, but he wouldn't mind taking a rest under the cold rain.

"What's that?" Came muffled to his ears. He tried to raise his head, to no avail.

"Hey there, do you need some help here?" Phil… Tubbo must have been thinking too much about him and started hallucinating. Then, Techno came from around his shoulder, decked in fancy robes with an umbrella to shield him from the rain. And Tommy too, floating a few feet off the ground, protecting his new bundle of clothes while steam rises from where water touches his bare skin.

Tubbo hadn't noticed when Phil decided to throw his coat over him, but he appreciated the warmth it brought.

"Do you have anyone you're needing to get back to?" Phil asked, and with every ounce of strength he could muster, Tubbo shook his head and murmured;

"No,"

Tommy looked happy about something, and Techno had a small smile on his face. Phil took in a breath, and not a beat went by before he said, "Let's take you back to the place and warm you up, we don't want you getting sick from the rain."

The harpy hauled him into his arms, and Tubbo couldn't help but smile and laugh a little. 

Phil's hugs were amazing.


	5. The House In The Woods

_ On the outskirts of a city raised by one of the four ancient Gods, stood a house in the woods, with a family thrown together like a patchwork quilt. However, the five of them made it work. The Harpy father, with his first adopted son, the Golem who felt like a real living being. Then came the Siren son, who was officially the king of an ocean of nothing but water. Then, the Imp from Hell, whose real parents never treated him like a child, only like an errand boy. And the youngest of the bunch, a Brownie who lived in the house longer than any of the others were aware. This home became a comfort for most of them, for the ones who've never known the feeling of a family, or the ones who had lost theirs along the way. _

_ It was upsetting to think about, sad to remember, but; together, the five of them made this new place their home. _

_ Phil, the Harpy. _

_ Techno, the Golem. _

_ Wilbur, the Siren. _

_ Tommy, the Imp. _

_ And Tubbo, the Brownie. _

_ And they all lived together peacefully, on the- wait, no, scratch that. Tommy just stole Techno's crown again. Really, he's just running through the hallway with it on while Techno screams in a different language at him. I can hear them through the door, the child is loud and extremely annoying. Oh, he just fell, or Techno swatted him from the sir like a fly. _

"WILBUUUUUR!!!"

Wilbur closed the journal, setting it aside on the glass. 

"What, Tommy?"

"TECHNO IS GOING TO KILL ME!"

Muffled, he could hear Tubbos voice from the left wall better than the soft echoes from the hallway.

"He's not going to kill you." He said.

"SHUT UP TUBBO! HE IS! HE TOTALLY IS!"

"Don't be mean to Tubbo." Techno said. Wilbur thinks he could hear Tommy trying to get up from the ground. Techno probably has him pinned to the ground like a wrestler or something.

"Yeah! Don't be mean to me!" He could hear Tubbo's door creak open into the hall. Within seconds, the discussion outside of his door grew louder and louder until it felt less of a discussion and more of a bubbling argument.

Wilbur sighed. 

Average Wednesday.

Dipping his head under the water, Wilbur swam to the bottom of his pool, where the staff laid against the tile wall and the bottom was coated in cream colored sand. He rested on the floor, pushing the thin layer of sand around with webbed fingers.

It was hardly morning. The sun had hardly graced the above-ground window and the child was already gearing up towards a fight. It gets tiring sometimes, with Phil hardly around, Techno encouraging it, Tubbo going along with it…

He sighed, and from behind drew little Milo. The small fish brushed against the knuckles in the sand, and Wilbur couldn't stand to  _ not  _ give him pets. He was just too adorable, and the tiny thing wanted attention anyway.

From above, the hardwood door slammed open.

"Wil!" Tommy's voice was muffled from the water. "Techno's being a bitch!"

And seconds later, he could hear the clicking of the golem's feet against his glass floor, and his dull monotonous voice called out too.

Wilbur gave Milo a look, and Milo brushed against his hand again.

He swam back to the surface, barely letting his nose pass the surface as he stared at his two housemates.

"Wil!"

"Child."

"Ignore him Wil," Techno said, crossing his arms and smiling. "Tommy just wants someone on his side when he's wrong."

"I'm not wrong! You were being a bitch so I stole your crown!" Tommy stomped his shoe against the glass. Wilbur was afraid he'd shatter the glass. 

"I wasn't being an ass, I was only trying to teach you how to read a map-"

"But you were being a dick about it!"

"Boys," Wilbur intervened, leaning against the glass. "Calm yourselves. We don't want to be destroying the house while Phil's not here."

Tommy huffed, kicking his shoe against the glass for a second before he shoved past Tachno through the door and up the hallway. As he walked out, Wil could see his tail flickering about, he wasn't upset, he was just being a bored child. Looking for entertainment.

Techno laughed, adjusting the golden adornments that were even slightly out of place. "Kid needs to go outside more…"

Wil looked at him for a second.

"Oh uh… no, no offense Wilbur. I didn't-"

"Oh no, it's fine Techno." Wil slowly sunk back into the water. Techno shuffled towards the door, looking around the barren room nervously before grabbing onto the door handle.

"Well, I'll talk to you later."

"See you around, Techno."

And the door closed with a slow thud.

He sank back to the bottom of his tank, coiling into the sand. Milo swam up to his nose, his cold body leaving a chill where he laid against Wilbur's hair. 

"They're supposed to be my new brothers, Milo, my new family, after I watched David and Charlie get ripped to shreds." He raised his hand to his hair, where Milo swam to his palm. He lowered his hand to stare his friend in the face.

"Yet I feel like a guest, like a  _ neighbor. _ "

Wilbur let his mind race with ' _ what can I do to fix this'  _ and ' _ where would I even begin _ ' when his mind came up with an answer. 

' _ You can do magic, dumbass.' _

He pushed himself off of the floor, summoning every transformation book he's ever seen from the castle's library. The few intact ones that fell to the sand could barely be considered useful. Yet, as he tried to bring forth the more advanced volumes, the more ripped pages and big makes he found.

So he dug, and he dug, and he rummaged through the eligible pages, filtering out the incoherent or incomplete into the corner of the tank he labeled 'Useless'.

He read and read and read through the magical tomes and volumes he could scavenge. And as he pulled out one clean script, he smiled.

Turning to Milo, he whispered to his friend.

"Do you think I could surprise them at dinner?"

Phil burst through the front door, someone else's blood coating the front of his robes. Breathing heavily, he dropped the sheathed sword on the wooden coat rack, not noticing as both fell to the ground.

Techno was the first one to the door, quickly catching the swaying harpy.

"Phil?" Techno tried to catch his father's eyes.

"Hey, Techno." He coughed.

"Phil.. what's..?" The golem slowly dipped himself under Phil's arm. "We need to get you to a doctor."

"No," His father blanched, wings twitching at the slightest breeze. "Just, just get me to Wil."

Techno nodded, half dragging him along as he walked down the hall. He could see both Tommy and Tubbo peeking out of their respective rooms. Once he made eye contact with them, both of the youngest disappeared behind their doors and closed them hurriedly. 

He quickly shuffled the two of them down the hall and kicked open the hard wooden door. He's going to pretend he didn't hear the wood crack underneath his heel.

"Wil- Wilbur! We need some help." Techno knelt, laying his father down at the edge of the glass. As he let go, he could feel Phil's hand around his bicep, and looking down, Phil was already staring right at him.

Wilbur popped out of the water, hair a dripping mess, with a book barely visible in his hands. As he laid his eyes on Phil, the book was dropped from his hands and into the water.

"What-" Wilbur motioned for Techno to quickly assist in removing the bloody robes. As soon as they were off, Wilbur could see the issue. A stab wound, right below his sternum, was slowly leaking blood. Some of it was dripping down into his water. It was disgusting.

Other than that, a few ribs didn't look like they were sitting correctly.

"Phil, what happened?"

Phil shrugged. "I got stabbed."

Wilbur turned to Tachno with an unimpressed look. Unsurprisingly, Techno shared the same feeling.

"I'll be back in a second," Wilbur said, Milo poking out of the surface of the water. "Keep him awake, Techno, and check for a fever for me."

As he went back under, Techno turned back to his father figure, who continued to stare into the pool of water where Wil had disappeared into. He felt a bit awkward.  _ He  _ didn't know how to help people with flesh and blood, never needed to know how. And now his father figure is looking worse for wear and he isn't too sure how to help. A weight landed on his knee, and Phil caught his eye.

"I'll be okay."

Techno wanted to start arguing, to tell them that they would never know for sure until the outcome is reached, when he dropped it. It's Phil, and he's usually right.

Instead, he talked with Phil for a little while, helping preen his wings while they waited. Only for Wilbur to pop out of the water, and ask for both Tubbo and a pair of eyeglasses.

Phil pat his knee, made of stone and held together by threads of magic, and he stood. Techno left the room, but as he turned back in the doorway, Phil had closed his eyes, and Wilbur looked a but frantic. He walked a bit quicker than normal down the hall and he completely ignored Tubbo's room, because if he knew the two youngest at all…

He knocked on Tommy's door, and the owner swung it open. Tubbo was on the floor, curled up on the small red-fur rug. Before Techno could say anything, Tommy spat, "What?"

"Wil asked for Tubbo," and the child stood, rubbing his eyes and making them slightly more red than before, and ducked under Tommy's arm and through the door.

He didn't wait for Techno, already halfway down the ha when Tommy closed the door and secluded himself back into his room.

Stepping back inside Wilbur's room, he leaned against the stone wall of the room. Tubbo trailed slightly behind, and within the first second of seeing Phil, he announced that he's going to get the medkit from the cabinet in the bathroom, and promptly turned tail. 

For the brief moment of Tubbo's absence, Techno watched as Wilbur flipped through a book made of sea flora and unwavering ink. The room brightened with a golden glow, and at first Techno believed it to come from the setting sun through the small window. But, as he shifted, the sky was cloudy, and thunder rolled in the distance.

Instead, the light moved with Wilbur's hands as he flipped through the pages, squinting. 

"That's new." Techno pushed against the wall, kneeling against the glass next to Phil.

"You only think it's new because you don't visit me." Techno didn't respond.

In seconds, Tubbo burst through the door, dragging a medkit that was about his size through the door. It was big, bulky, and contained enough supplies to fuel a hospital for a week.

"I got the supplies," Tubbo sat next to Techno, drawing open the medkit. "What needs to be patched first?"

Wil moved his hands to hover over the gaping hole that slowly continued to bleed, just glancing over the torn skin. "First, we need to focus on stemming the flow of blood, then setting one or two ribs back in order."

Moving one hand to Phil's forehead, Wilbur visibly relaxed a small bit.

"At least we don't have to worry about any sort of head injury."

"Good to know," Techno began to stand. "Since I'm not well versed in the medical-y business, I'll take my leave and won't impede on your healin' thing."

"Oh, and Techno-"

"I'll go get you a pair of glasses, Wil, and a meal."

Wilbur smiled, and the glowing of his hands shifted into a different color, becoming something of a shade of green.

"Thank you, Techno."

It was a few hours before Techno returned to Wilbur's room, if only to move Phil to his own bedroom so Wil could start scrubbing the stains on his glass floor.

Passing by, Techno could see Tommy and Tubbo working together in the kitchen. With Tubbo reading a tattered cookbook from the floor and Tommy barely bothering to measure whatever he was throwing into a boiling pot. From the doorway, Techno could read the title of the page,  _ "Chicken Noodle Soup" _ . Needless to say, Techno didn't think it looked like chicken, noodles, or soup.

He left to his room, where a meaningless bed with perfectly made covers stood in the corner. He pulled out the wooden chair at the desk and sat, pulling out a container of polish and a dirty rag from the top most drawer.

Removing the mask from his face was always a feat. Depending how long it laid on his face, more and more of the magic threads the kept him together would slowly lace the thing to his face. Slowly, he gripped the mask and  _ pulled _ . The few strings snapping felt like nerves being severed, he couldn't help the hiss as two strings snapped at once.

Then, the mask was laying on the desk, and his face felt like it was bleeding profusely, though he had no blood to give.

Techno gave himself a moment to breathe. And as the strings fell aside, blending in with his bright pink hair, he grabbed the canister of polish, flicked off the lid, and dipped in dirty rag in.

Slowly, Tommy helped him walk back down the hall, down towards the dining room which branched off of the kitchen. Though, Tommy floating a few inches in the air to accommodate his height is something he found a little joy in. Especially when he'd be able to tease his son about it later.

The sun had just begun to set, Phil could see the purple sky through the grand window, mostly covered in vines and local flora.

Next to him sat Techno, and he could practically feel the  _ worry _ emanate from him. Phil chuckled, laying a hand against the shoulder of his eldest. He cares too much sometimes.

Through the doorway, Tommy held onto the warm pot of soup, Tubbo in front directing him where to go. They managed to place the pot on top of the trivet in the center of the table, only nearly missing Techno's head.

Grumbling, Techno asked "Are we ready to eat?"

Tommy opened his mouth to speak, and before he could speak, another voice cut him off.

"I thought it was a family dinner?" 

Tubbo gasped, "Wilby!"

On two, non-fishy legs, stood Wilbur in the doorway.

Phil left from his chair faster than he should have, and Techno caught him as his wounds screamed and burned in protest. He looked up to Wilbur, as did his other sons, and they watched as Wilbur waltzed into the dining room and took a seat.

"How the fuck-"

"Language." Tubbo cut in.

"Sorry," Tommy flew above the table, standing right in Wilbur's face. "How in the world do you have legs, fish boy?"

"I'm a Siren, child." Wilbur batted him away and he fell off of the table with a yelp. "I do have my own certain degree of magic, which I should've been trained on at the beginning of my rule, but its whatever. I'm learning from the texts now and that's all that matters, really. Plus It's not like I can keep this from for a long while, I do need to rehydrate my scales eventually. And don't even get me started on freshwater-"

"I'm sorry," Phil sat back down in his seat with little help from his son. "Rehydrate your scales?"

With that, Wilbur gave him an unimpressed look and took the yellow turtleneck collar of his sweater and pulled it away from his neck, revealing swaths of ashen scales leading back down his neck.

"It's less of a form change spell and more of a form altering spell. But, for its intended purpose," Wil released his collar, straightening out his sweater. "It works."

"Thats actually kinda cool." Said Techno.

Tommy scoffed, and Phil was sure he was about to make some asshole comment, so instead, he puffed up his wings and spoke louder.

"Well, stunning achievements aside, it's dinner time, is it not?"

Slowly, his children got back into their seats and spooned out their own portions. A minute hadn't even passed when Wil made a comment about how the food looks like actual swamp water, and Tommy had tacked him to the floor from across the table, knocking over his own bowl and splashing it all over Tubbo. Who, in turn, yelled "FOOD FIGHT!" and tossed his empty bowl at Techno, which shattered against his mask.

Techno, now armed with both his own and Phil's bowl of swampy soup, screamed "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" and dumped the soup all over Tommy and Wilbur.

Phil sighed, chuckling to himself about how crazy his kids are, and left to the kitchen. It seems he would have to make dinner tonight after all.


End file.
